Tripadvisor Sale: Apollo's Interest and Possible Scenarios

07.03.2024 - 04:35 / skift.com / Dennis Schaal / Matt Goldberg / Liberty Tripadvisor

Ever since Liberty Tripadvisor disclosed in early February that it was exploring a potential transaction in which itself and Tripadvisor would be acquired in an all-cash deal, speculation was rife that a private equity firm was behind the possible move.

Apollo Global Management, one such private equity firm, has been looking into that acquisition, Bloomberg reported, citing sources who didn’t want to be identified. That exploration is said to be at an early phase and may not come to fruition.

Liberty Tripadvisor wields a majority of Tripadvisor’s voting power at 57% so would be the decider on any transaction. Greg Maffei is the CEO of Liberty Media and chairman of Tripadvisor.

Tripadvisor’s shares were up about 1.5% late afternoon Wednesday after the report about Apollo’s interest.

Other players could get involved, as well.

Apollo has been very active in the travel industry over the past couple of decades. Apollo helped fund Expedia Group during the the beginning of the pandemic in 2020 when Expedia needed liquidity, and an Apollo SPAC merged with American Express Global Business Travel to take it public in 2022.

Other Apollo acquisitions in travel included Oceania (2007); 50% of Norwegian Cruise Line (2007); Harrah’s (2008), which became Ceasar’s Entertainment; Diamond Resorts (2016); and with a group of other investors, Atlas Air Worldwide Holdings (2023).

Tripadvisor has formed an independent committee to vet any offers that may come and has retained a financial advisor.

Analysts and travel industry insiders look to private equity as likely suitors for Tripadvisor. In addition to Apollo, other names that have come up as potentially having interest in a deal could be Permira, CVC, EQT and Softbank, which has investments in both GetYourGuide and Klook.

Big potential strategic partners, ranging from Booking Holdings to Expedia and Google, either wouldn’t be interested or might be scared away because of regulatory hurdles in the U.S. and abroad, the thinking goes.

What might Apollo or any private equity buyer do with Tripadvisor?

Tours and activities leader Viator is the fastest-growing and the all-star in Tripadvisor’s portfolio of brands and products. In speaking to travel industry insiders since news broke of a potential deal, most agreed that buying Tripadvisor and then selling Viator made the most sense.

In 2021, Tripadvisor filed confidential paperwork with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission to spin out Viator into a public company. Nothing came of it, however, because the IPO market turned sour, with investors favoring profitable companies over growth companies that were deep in the red.

Tripadvisor CEO Matt Goldberg said recently — but prior to Liberty Tripadvisor stating that